We cannot understand the world around us apart from right worship. And yet, day after day, we see a world which cries out to be understood. We see conflict, distress, warfare, and oppression, and we sometimes despair of comprehending our role in it. This problem has been accentuated by the current war, but this actually is our condition all the time. It is just that now, others will come to us in distress and ask us what we think of the war. Our opinion is sought, and many of us do not know exactly what to say. This is because the questioner is often seeking a simple answer, contained with his idolatrous categories. “Are you for the war, or against it?” Yes or no? And many of us are unsure, not knowing what to say.
We are here to worship God, the only God, the living and true God. At the global level, the current war is a war between two false gods, the god of American secularism and the god of Islam. In the providence of our triune God, our lot as American Christians is bound up in this conflict, and so we may lawfully wish our troops well, pray for those many Christians who are involved in the conflict, and may pray that they perform their tasks ably and well. But we may only do this if we know how to keep ourselves from idols.
As Americans, we are more likely to be seduced by the gods of secular prosperity, whose names are NASDAQ and DOW, than we are to convert to Islam. We are to look with a wary eye at that which poses the greatest threat to our faithfulness. But thinking such political thoughts during the week is not enough.
We must worship the true God, and we must worship Him truly, fully and with a whole heart. That is why we are here. Worship Him! Come before Him, and ask Him to show you the ultimate vanity of every false god. The empires of men are smoke before Him, and every idol lies face down on the threshold like Dagon. Come, let us worship the God who made heaven and earth, and who made the new heaven and the new earth in Jesus Christ our Lord.